President Truong Tan Sang has obtained pledges of continued assistance from the World Bank (WB) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) top executives during his separate meetings with them in Washington DC on July 24 as part of his ongoing visit to the US.

He suggested the WB continue providing Vietnam with official development assistance (ODA) and assistance to its infrastructure development projects while proposing the IMF to increase policy consultancies and back Vietnam’s economic restructuring and growth model transformation process.

WB Group President Jim Yong Kim and IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarder shared their belief that by pursuing the current comprehensive measures it has adopted Vietnam will weather macroeconomic challenges.

Later on the day, the President attended a reception hosted by US companies where he stated that Vietnam attaches much importance to the Trans-Pacific Partnership talks and determines to work together with the US and others to wrap it up by the end of this year.

He told the businessmen that in 2013, Vietnam has, for the first time, simultaneously conducted talks on free trade agreement (FTA) with all leading economic centres in the globe, aimed at creating interest bases for equal, long lasting, constructive and mutually beneficiary partnerships to be established.

The President expressed his belief that when all 14 FTAs are completed during 2015-2020, Vietnam will become an important link connecting with 55 trade partners around the world, 15 of which are G20 members.

As the US has grown into the top trade partner and the seven biggest investor of Vietnam today, President Sang, therefore, called upon US investors to broaden operation and run long-term business in Vietnam, particularly in high technology, energy, manufacturing, environment, information technology, agriculture modernisation, and human resource development.

“All measures will be deployed drastically to ensure Vietnam is an attractive destination where investors’ efficient business is secured,” President Sang said.-VNA